The Augusta City Council chose a consultant to help them find a new City Manager Monday night.

After hearing from three firms, the council chose to use The Austin Peters Group from Overland Park, KS for a base fee of $8,800. If all of the alternate services are used the city could spend more than $12,000 during the process which is expected to take between three and four months.

The governing body heard presentations from Art Davis of the Art Davis Group, Larry Shelton of Chell Consulting and Marla Flentje of the Austin Peters Group.

After the presentations, the council deliberated for several minutes before having a change of heart and going with Austin Peters.

The first poll of the council had five members – Mike Rawlings, Jamie (Hubbard) Crum, Jason Lowery, Matt Malone and Matt Childers – expressing a preference for the Art Davis Group.